Rina is a DisCover Girl: on being featured on Yoga Journal‘s cover.

Sitting here at the Vedanta Academy in India, I reflect on being on the cover of Yoga Journal’s March issue.

I am both excited and inspired to represent what yoga has taught me in my short 15 years of studies.

Throughout this process of

1. Being asked to shoot for it,

2. Actually shooting the cover,

3. Seeing the completed cover a month later and

4. Thinking about the after-effects of being on the cover,

…I have discovered a lot about myself.

I have learned that I wasn’t phased by the first three steps mentioned above. I just accepted and took the actions needed without much internal hype.

However, I discovered a weak link within me. I had a bit of shock when I realized I could be massively judged by everyone: I am in full showcase for all to see. Scarrrryyyy!

But…I snapped out of it when I realized that it doesn’t have to mean anything: being on the cover only has the value I place on it. I will always be judged by externals because that is the nature of all our minds—including mine.

And so I was able to let the judgments go. Real value comes from how I see myself—ideally without judgments.

So, to paraphrase the great Helen Reddy’s song, “I am Rina, hear me roar!”

The teachings of Vedanta and yoga philosophy have taught me that it is important to be aware of what we place value on. Any name or fame is just an abstract perception others have of you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to be exciting to see the magazine in my hands and see this kind of printed manifestation of so much hard work. But then it will be time to close the magazine and keep working and serving.

I have respected Yoga Journal since I started my studies so it is an honor to work with them. One of the aspects I admire most about Yoga Journal is the genuine and hard-working team I worked with. The shoot was fabulous and the crew was vibrant, with the photographer Jeff Nelson taking many candid shots of me, cracking up and making funny faces. 

You can see this attitude trickle down into the magazine. I encourage all readers and students to engage and experience the benefits of the lifestyle Yoga Journal has promoted in the West for so many years.

My feature,“17 Poses to Prepare Your Mind for Meditation,” includes an at-home yoga sequence to focus the mind on more specific areas of awareness in order to calm down our minds.

Vedanta teaches us how to develop our intellects in order to control our minds. I do my best every day and take it one day at a time. I give myself permission to have fun, which will be seen in the magazine’s first blooper comic-strip style photos with the editor Carin Gorrell and me playing on our height differences: a true expression of acceptance of who we are in these bodies we were given.

So much more than a Cover Girl, I hope to continue to “dis-cover” myself and my purpose as a yoga teacher and human for the benefit of all. 

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Author: Rina Jakubowicz

Editor: Caroline Beaton

Photo: Jeff Nelson/Yoga Journal